Mad World
by BonnibellParker
Summary: The Evil Within DC Jakara AU. Jason Todd has lost everything. His family, his friends, everything. After 5 years of searching for his missing daughter, an old friend appears and tells him she's found his daughter. Now he's been thrown into an unstable world, and with only his wits, he'll have to fight his way to save his daughter from self destruction.
1. Chapter 1

5 years...5 whole years without Leia. 5 whole years of questions without answers. 5 years of searching with little to show for it. It took its toll on Jason and Kara. They had to live without their daughter. They had to live not knowing where she was or if she was even alive. The first few months were the hardest and they were in constant denial. She would come home and every night she didn't was simply just a Dream. After a while, it set in and they felt lost. What had they done to deserve this? What terrible thing did they do for their daughter to be taken from them?They'd begun to argue over the little things or who's fault it was. Why one wasn't there when it happened or where the other was in the first place. Kara started drifting away, doing her own research and locking herself in her office. She wanted to be alone. Be away from the rest of the house which was now a constant reminder that Leia wasn't coming home. She stopped talking to Jason and he started drinking more. He went out every night on patrol to try and find anything that would help find his daughter. The only time they'd see each other was for meals. And after a few years of searching, Kara had finally found something. A lead. She vanished without a word. Never leaving a note and never contacting Jason. No letters, no phone calls...nothing. She left, following her hunch, and Jason was left to himself. He isolated himself from everyone and buried himself in his search for Leia. It was the only thing keeping him from that pit of darkness that threatened to take him every night he'd let himself fall asleep. The same darkness that pushed him to drinking to dull the pain of it all...5 years with no answers. Until now.

It came to the surprise of everyone when Jason finally left his house for the first time in a while to go out and not patrol the city. He had finally had enough of it and went to the closest bar to drown the pain away like usual. He had just down with his third bottle of the night when a familiar face placed itself in the seat across from his. "It's been a while, Jason. How've you been?" He didn't answer them, simply downing another bottle.

"What? No hello?"

"What the hell do you want, Kyle?" He mumbled out, running a hand down his face. "I'm not in the mood for you tonight. I've had enough on my mind."

"You mean besides the usual?" She asked softly, a hint of what Jason could only assume was pity or sympathy laced into the question.

"What do you want?" He grumbled, finally looking up at her.

"I came to help you find your daughter, birdie. I know where she is."

"Bull. Shit." He spat at her, glaring toward her. "I've looked for damn near 5 years with nothing to show for it. How could you possibly know where she is?"

"Because." She sighed, pulling a folder out from the bag she has and slid it across to him. He glanced down, hesitating before he opened it up. The folder contained an old and slightly damaged photo of Leia, smiling and happy. It also contained a document of data, all surrounded around her and some...machine. "I...I work for the people that have her." She told him, leaning forward a bit so that only he could hear her. "And I've been working with a few others to try and get her out. But we need your help."

"And why the hell should I trust you? You aren't always one to tell the truth and I highly doubt you know where Leia is when me and Kara have searched for years." He told her, hate and malice in his voice. He shut the folder, pushing it back toward her before he stood up, going to leave. "Coming out here was a bad idea." He mumbled to himself. Before he could get far he felt a sharp pain in his neck, making him quickly turn to face Selina. She had a needle in hand and a solemn look on her face.

"Sorry, Birdie...But this isn't an option." He glared, stumbling toward her a bit. He could feel himself starting to black out and he tried to balance himself up with little success.

"What...the hell did...you..." He managed out before collapsing onto the ground. Selina sighed, gesturing for two men in black to grab him and bring him to their car in the back.

"Sorry, Jay...I'll make it up to you later."


	2. Chapter 2

Jason woke up, his head throbbing and groggy. He went to run a hand down his face but found he couldn't move it. As he came to more, he felt something metallic and cold around them and he was sat up in some chair. The room he was waiting in was dark, with one light hanging above him. It lite the room just enough to show one other person in the room. Selina. "Where the hell am I, Kyle?"

"Good morning, sleeping bird. You're in Cadmus' development division." She told him, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the wall. "And where Leia is. Well...sort of."

"Sort of? What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"Well...when Cadmus took her, their plans were to use her for their recent series of experiments-"

"Experiments?! What the hell did you do to her?" He yelled, starting to struggle against his restraints.

"Relax, Birdie. She's completely unharmed. She was a candidate for their new...virtual world core. We needed a happy, healthy mind that we could build the world in. One that is stable and able to withstand it. She was the most successful. So they kept her." She explained.

"What so...so shes like your fuckin battery? A poor innocent child? What the hell is wrong with you people?" He couldn't understand why they'd of taken a child, of all people an innocent child, to be their experiment.

"I didn't choose this. I had...I joined once Barbara had found out about this place. People had started going missing, I was just suppose to be undercover. But when I saw they had Leia I...I stayed. But I had no way of telling you. No way of telling Kara...Not till recently." She spoke softer, looking away from him. He sensed something was off and he started to panic, to worry that maybe something bad had happened to Leia.

"What happened? Selina, why did you need me here?" He tried to keep calm, get her to tell him. She took a calming breath, looking back to him.

"A week ago...we stopped getting a signal from her. We had no way of seeing what was going on inside and from what we were receiving data wise...the stability started to crumble. So we sent a team in. Barbara...Tim...and a few others. We all joined to help get her out, but things haven't gone as planned and now I think you're our only hope."

"Me? Someone possibly as unstable as whatever world you built inside my daughters head? Great." He scoffs, shaking his head. "This is just...great."

The room fell silent for a moment before the doors opened, more men in black coming in and starting to push the chair he was in toward another room. Selina followed closely behind, getting ahead of them once they reached the center room that was filled with tubes with people hooked up in them. Doctors, scientists and technicians all filled the room and stayed beside the tubes filled with people and made sure they're vitals and data were fine.

"Welcome to Cadmus." A voice said from the intercoms, filling the room and gaining Jason's attention. "It's a pleasure to have you here. Kyle here says you can help us with our problem."

"Did she now? Guess I am." He said, leaning back in the chair as they started undoing his restraints. "Least I could do, what with you having my daughter and all. Can't exactly let her suffer if I can help it." He said with more hatred in his tone. The voice only laughed.

"She's the key to world peace, ."

"A child? Yeah. Because that makes sense."

"I do not expect you to understand our ideas. So long as you help get The Core out safely, you can judge our ideas all you want. Kyle, help him into the machine." She did as she was told, starting to type something out on the computer connected the the tube he'd be in. He looked it over, reluctantly laying down into it and letting Selina hook him up.

"Once you get inside, you'll find yourself back in an office room. There will be a walkie-talkie sitting on the table. It'll be our way of communicating. You'll be our eyes and ears. Alright?"

"Just hurry up. The sooner I get inside the sooner I can find Leia and get her out of here." He said plainly, staring up at the ceiling.

"I'm trying to help you, Birdie. You gotta give me something back or this isn't gonna work out. Got it?" When he didn't answer she sighed, getting fed up with him. "Fine. I'll be out here when you need help." She told him before she shut the door of the tube and started the machine. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to keep calm as he started feeling as if he was falling asleep again. This was more peaceful than the sedative Selina used earlier, more natural. After a few minutes he suddenly woke up, or felt as if he woke up but he was surround by nothing but darkness. He was confused, looking around cautiously till he heard a familiar and small voice in the distance.

"This way, papa."

"Leia?" He slowly started walking toward the voice, his pace speeding up until he was back in a park. The same park from the day she...disappeared. He started to panic, frantically looking around and calling for her. "Leia? Leia, where are you? Reina, it's papa come out of hiding!"

"Papa?" He quickly turned around, seeing her stood in front of him. She looked confused, looking up at him.

"Leia..." he sighed in relief, falling to his knees and hugging her. "God don't run off like that again." He felt utterly relieved that he has finally, finally found her...until she disappeared from his arms, the first explosion sounding off. That panic that disappeared so quickly came back just as fast as he looked around. "Leia?!" He flinched when the second went off. The park was empty yet all he could hear was the cries of others, the fear and panic of that day rushing back in full force. He quickly got up, spotting a small blonde child walking away and disappearing into the flames of the nearby trees. He ran after her, the world around him once again being engulf in darkness before a bright light shone down on him and suddenly the world Cadmus has created began to build itself until he was in a small office. He looked around in shock and confusion, letting the silence of the room wash over him. He took a few deep breaths, running a hand through his hair before he started looking for the walkie-talkie Selina talked about. It was resting in a draw in the desk, with a survival knife waiting beside it. He grabbed them both, clipping the sheathed knife to his belt before he presses the talk button on the walkie-talkie.

"Jason? Did you make it in okay?"

"Define okay?" He asked shakily, his eyes shut tight as he tried to calm his nerves.

"In one piece, preferably."

"Then I made it just fine, Sel."

"Great...that's good. From here on... you're on your own. The most I can do is tell you information about the team we sent in and any...people we sent in to test out the world. Be safe in there, Birdie. And keep me updated."

"Yeah..." He clipped the talkie to his belt as well, leaning back on the desk as he composed himself. "Get ahold of yourself, Todd. You have to make it through for Leia." He told himself. "For Leia..."


	3. Chapter 3

Jason had lost track of time, set silently in the office trying to comprehend his situation. Why did this type of thing always happen to him? He was current inside his daughters head and he has to save her, not knowing what awaits him ahead. He finally got up after probably an hour and made his way out, slowly and cautiously sneaking around the small and broken down house he was in. He peered our the window, the small town that laid itself out before him silent and looking as if the apocalypse had happened. He took this as a good sign, going to the front door and walking out to explore his surrounds. "Alright...whatcha got for me?" He started walking around, finding the silence and abandoned cars and houses eerie. He pulled out the talkie, pressing the talk button and waiting to hear Selina.

"Jason? What is it?"

"So what exactly is this world suppose to be? Shouldn't there be like...I don't know...people?" He asked, trying to listen for any signs of life.

"There was but I doubt any of them are...people right now. The stability doesn't just affect the environment but it affects its people. If the world starts to crumble, it's people will lose their sanity."

"So basically I've been sent into some zombie apocalypse type world inside my daughters head?" He took her silence as an answer. He sighed, stopping and resting his hand on his hip and looking down. "Selina, there are no people around and by what your saying that worries me. Deeply."

"It worries me too. Be careful."

"Don't plan on dying anytime soon, Sel. So I'll be careful." He started walking again, clipping it back into his belt as he heard a small crash in the distance. He quickly hid behind one of the cars, peeking around its corner to see a man in all purple and messy green hair walking out of a building. He was tossing a small remote like device up into the air as he whistled, a wide and creepy smile plastered on his nearly all white face. He looked as if he was some kind of clown. "Well he's different." Jason mumbled, watching him closely. Once the man was far enough away from the building he turned, holding the remote high up in the air.

"And now, as a welcome for our new friend who has yet to show themselves, a light show." He pressed the button, causing a massive explosion and senting a the building into flames, debris flying everywhere. Jason ducked back behind the car, bracing for the force it cause and shuttering at the maniacal laughter the strange man had.

"What the fuck is up with this guy?!" He peered over the Hood, finding the man walking off before vanishing into thin air. His eyes widened, quickly running toward that area. "Did he just...how the hell?" Be stood there dumbfounded until he heard another noise from the burning building. He quickly took cover, hearing staggered footsteps coming out of the building. He look a quick look, seeing what a burning person roaming around unphases by the fire. "Right...the 'zombies'" He muttered to himself, slowly and quietly walking away from the building to try avoiding having to fight them. He only had his knife after all and until he found a gun or something better, he wasn't willing to give that knife up to some flaming and mindless being.

After what felt like hours of wondering and searching, the radio started to act up. It was making a static noise everytime he began walking in a certain direction, as if it were leading him somewhere. Curiousity started to peak as the static got louder when he neared what was starting to sound a lot like gun shots. He slowed his pace, seeing someone in a military grade uniform shooting and trying to fend off a small horde of the creatures. His eyes widened when he got a better few of the person, a small bit of panic now forming in the pit of his stomach. "Barbara? Shit...shit shit." He started frantically trying to find something, anything to draw the attention away from her long enough for him to get her and hide. He managed to find an empty glass bottle in the trash in a nearby trash can, tossing it and anything else from the can the could make noise away from her. Once the horde started dwindling down and she killed the last of the creatures that remained, he ran over to her pulling her away as they made their way behind one of the buildings. She had tried to struggle away from him before they hide, still full of adrenaline.

"Get your hands off of me!" She nearly yelled, ripping her arms away from him when they were a safe distance away.

"Barbara, it's me. Jason." He tried to calm her down, putting his hands up defensively and letting her get a better view of him. She stood in shock for a moment before sighing in relief, smiling softly.

"Thank god. I didn't think Selina would actually convince you to come."

"...She didn't exactly convince me. But that doesn't exactly matter right now." He told her, peeking around the corner to make sure they were still in the clear. "We need to find a place to hide."

"My safe house isn't too far from here, come on." She gestured for him to follow her, reloading her gun and starting toward their destination.

After a while of sneaking around they made it to a locked up building, Barbara putting in a code before the door opened and she lead him in. "So what did you mean when you said she didn't convince you? You aren't exactly the easiest to beat in a fight."

"She sedated me. Probably knew I wouldn't go quietly and brought it just in case." He explained, sitting down in one of the chairs. "She said you guys had some plan that hasn't gone well?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her to hear her side of the situation. As much as he wanted to believe Selina 100%, she hasn't always been one for truth.

"Right. Well it was suppose to be a simple plan. We had sent in Kara and Lex-"

"Wait Kara's here?" He sat up more, leaning forward in his chair. "She didn't tell me that.

"She didn't? Why?"

"You think I know what goes through her head all the time? She's Selina fucking Kyle."

"Right...Well we had sent her and Lex in here. They were suppose to help keep Leia stable in here. They were the first two sent in to find her when she went dark. When we lost track of them, they sent me and a few others to find them and Leia and get out." She explained, typing something into her computer. After she finished, a device next to it had switched on and seemed to make the environment around them seem...different. His radio and any electronic in the room shut off.

"What did you just do?"

"They have ears everywhere still, despite what they let Selina know. Can't risk them finding out our actual plan. Tim, Kara, and I developed a virus that would replace Leia as this worlds core. If it works like we hope once were all out of here it'll malfunction and crumble and kill any Cadmus operative that still has their chip installed. Thankfully we don't." Jason chuckled, shaking his head as he leaned back.

"That's...quite a plan you got there, Babs." She smiles, glancing down.

"Well hopefully it's a successful one at that."

"Right. Well, while we're in here...got any spare guns I could have? All Kyle left me was a knife and while I am still skilled at hand to hand combat, I just saw some crazy fucker disappear into thin air and I'm thinking a knife isn't quite gonna cut it against him."

"So you saw him? The Joker?" She asked, looking back to him.

"Is that what they call him?"

"It's what he calls himself." She started scrounging around to find her spare gun, diggging through boxes and bags. "He was one of the first to join Cadmus in their volunteer groups to go into here. The corruption turned him into...well that. He's been setting traps and causing fires and explosions all over this place. If you can, avoid him. I don't think he's one for playing fair."

"I'll keep that in mind." He said, watching as she came over with a pistol and a small bag of ammo. "This'll do."

"If you find Tim or one of the other agents, they should have more ammo or guns for you." She told him, going to turn off the machine. "Now. While I have you hear, I have a job for you. Town hall is where we built one of the stabilizer to keep Leia and the world from getting too corrupted. I have a feeling it either got damaged or turned off when this all started and if you wanna have an easier time finding Leia and Kara, you're going to have to get that up and running again. The worlds starting to break apart." She explained, handing him a map with a route to town hall drawn onto it.

"Alright. I can do that." He assured as he holstered the gun, strapped the small bag of ammo onto him, and shoved the folded map into his back packet.

"And be careful. The Jokers been hanging around there a lot lately, and I think he knows what the machine is used for. He's gonna try stopping you at any cost from turning that thing back on." He nodded along, starting toward the door. "Contact me when you get there so I can't tell you how to fix it."

"I got it Barbara. Be safe, alright? I want us all safe and as unhurt as we can when we get out of here." He told her, smiling at her when she nodded in agreement. He saluted her off before heading out, making his way to the town hall.


	4. Chapter 4

It felt like hours since he'd left Barbara's safe house to find his way toward town hall. Time passed by so differently here, almost as if it stood still while always going forward; made things disorienting and harder to remember. On top of that, he had a very limited supply of ammo and there were just too many of these...'zombie' type people roaming the streets for him to simply just run toward town hall with no problem. And after what felt like an eternity he finally managed to find his way to the locked gates of town hall, making him sigh in relief. "Thank god I finally found it. Took long enough." He began to look around, hoping for some hole in the fence he could slip through so he didn't have to shoot the padlock, alerting any of those things roaming around.

He circled the building, finally finding a small break in the gate and catching the flash of the familiar purple suit this so called 'Joker' wore just as he slipped through it. He ran toward the entrance, grabbing the handle of the building and trying to open the door with no success. "Oh, you've gotta be joking." He kicked at the door, still with little to not success. "Dammit!" He yelled, punching the door again out of anger. "Bet the back doors easier to break." He ran in the direction he thought he saw a door at when he first circled the building, cheering silently when he found to. He turned the door handle to see if it was unlocked. It didn't open the first time around so he used a bit more force when he went to push it open the second time, resulting in him stumbling in when it opened.

The room that greeted him was in far better shape than the rest of the town he'd seen so far, looking almost untouched. "Well, that's suspicious." He mumbled, turning to shut and lock the door behind him. He carefully walked toward the office door, looking around for any signs of life around him. The crash from the office made him draw his gun in defense. He inched his way toward the door, taking a deep breath before opening the door quickly and pointing his gun. Nothing. "Increasingly more suspicious." He relaxed a bit more, peeking around the corner before moving further through the building. From what he could tell he was on the first floor and the generator or...whatever Barbara had called it was on the second. He was careful, making sure to peek around every corner and through every door he could before moving on. The Joker was in this building with him somewhere and he didn't know what the guy was even capable of.

He tried to keep track of where in the building he was and hadn't yet been. This was proving to be a lot harder than first thought when he rounded a corner and found the same painting he passed by four times before. "What the..." He trailed off, freezing when he saw a familiar figure standing only a few feet in front of him. He tensed up, his grip tightening on his gun.

"So nice of you to join us. I was beginning to think you'd abandoned me." The joker teased, the creepy smile he wore so well never fading. It almost looked like his face was frozen in place or that it was not his own. It was unsettling, which fit the atmosphere perfectly. Joker began pacing, waving around what looked like a crowbar as he spoke. "I hear you've been looking for the core. Now why is that?" He questioned, glancing at Jason who was growing impatient.

"None of your damn business, you creep." He spat back at him, ready to shoot the bastard already.

"Don't feel like sharing? You know you aren't the only one looking for her. She's the source of power around here. And my one ticket to power. He asked me to find her. Give her to him so that he may 'fix' this world for the better, whatever that may mean." He explained, stopping when Jason finally pointed his gun toward him. His smirk grew wider, if that was even possible, and he put his hands up in defense. "Now, now. Is that anyway to treat a someone you've just met? You can't expect me to tell you anything with that in my face."

"Shut up!" Jason snapped, aiming directly for his head. "I am not in the mood to play any of your games. You're going to tell me where she is or you're going to lose your head. Choose wisely because I am not a very patient man." The Joker didn't say anything, he just stood there as still as a statue. He counted to three, finger hovering over the trigger when he froze.

"Papa!" Her voice rang though the hall, making Jason hesitate. This gave the Joker the chance to swing the crowbar and knock the gun from his hands. He let out a chilling laugh as he 'skipped' away.

"Shouldn't believe every voice you hear around here, Jason." He yelled back at him. "Nothing here is as it seems." He said before shutting a door behind him, the door disappearing as Jason grabbed his gun and shot. He shot a few times, purely out of anger as he fought back tears of frustration. That bastard used her against him, made him think he was so close to her just from making him here her voice.

"Dammit!" He punched the wall, shutting his eyes as he breathed heavily. He had to get it together, focus. He couldn't find her if he acted like this at every little inconvenience. He gathered himself, taking a few calming breaths before going back to hunt for the stabilizer.

It took him longer than he would have liked, but he finally found the room. In the center of the conference room sat the large generator, looking as damaged as expected. He pulled out the hand radio, calling Barbara. He didn't exactly have the tools to fix things on his person, but Barbara assured him it would be a quick fix. And as usual, she was right. When he turned it on, a pulse came through. It felt like the building shook as the room shifted around him. Things put themselves back in place, almost fixed themselves in a way. It looked almost normal compared to how it was before. It was almost untouched. Much like the office downstairs. "So what's next Barbara?"

"I'd say follow the Joker's trail. After he left, a shift happened on the other side of town. The theater broke off...sort of. And so far, I think he's the only somewhat same person around that knows where Leia is." Jason groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. This is just what he needed.

"I'll head that way. Got any shortcuts I can take? Save me the hassle of having to deal with those...things outside?" He asked, hopeful she knew of some way to avoid having to waste anymore ammo.

"Actually." She began, bringing a smile to face. "I do. The basement has tunnel that leads to some pipelines underground. They were used for transporting supplies between some of the labs when everything was...well...better."

"Have I ever told you you're the best, Babs? Because you are."

"Anything for family, right? Call me when you get there. So I know you made it there safe."

"Of course. Stay safe, Babs."


End file.
